The Devil in the White City
Although the main focus of Erik Larson's Devil in the White City is the architects that work to plan and create Chicago 's World's Fair in 1893, Daniel Burnham also ran into many problems with his construction workers. The architects were forced to work on a tight schedule for various reasons such as weather, geography, money and simply short notice. Of course this forced the men to scramble and make adjustment, but it also made the construction much more vigorous and dangerous for the workers. Burnham had the constant threat of a labor strive looming over his head as he pushed for his fair's completion. And these workers had good reason to strike….
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“When [the photographer] took the picture [of the Ferris Wheel], hundreds of men were working on the building, but its scale was so great that none of the men was immediately visible” (177) |
“ Eighteen ninety-two broke cold, with six inches of snow on the ground and temperatures falling to ten degrees below zero… cold enough to clot the valves of all three of the city water system's intake valves and temporarily halt the flow of Chicago's drinking water. Despite the weather, work at Jackson Park progressed” (153). |
“Fearful that a wider strike could hobble the fair, even destroy it, Burnham began negotiations with the carpenters and ironworkers and agreed at last to establish a minimum wage and to pay time and a half for extra hours and double time for Sundays and key holidays, including, significantly, Labor Day. The union men, in turn, signed a contract to work until the end of the fair” (223). |